When Sanguinius, Horus, Liang Bing, and Pandora—carrying an enormous chunk of blackstone metal—were teleported back to the surface, the surviving Imperial Fists witnessed a sight that shook their faith once more.
At the edge of the smoke-filled battlefield, that delicate little girl was effortlessly carrying a chunk of living metal dozens of times larger than herself on her tiny shoulder. She even happily bounced twice after discovering a new "toy"!
Its crushing weight seemed to have no effect on her. The ground let out a dull groan every time she landed.
"Emperor above..." An Imperial Fists warrior's jaw nearly dropped beneath his helmet as he muttered to himself.
Sanguinius slightly folded her wings, and her holy radiance dispersed some of the battlefield's gloom.
She walked toward an injured sergeant, her voice carrying a calming power. "Sergeant, report the status of your expeditionary fleet."
The sergeant forcibly suppressed his shock, struggled to stand straight, and saluted respectfully. "Archangel! Not long after the expeditionary fleet's main force entered the Nephilim Sector, we completely lost contact with the outside world! Warp communications were entirely cut off. Astropaths either went mad and killed themselves or died from mental exhaustion! Worse still, large numbers of ordinary soldiers have fallen into a bizarre state of stasis. Only the Sisters of Battle, priests, and certain warriors with exceptionally strong wills appear unaffected. Warp engines are extremely difficult to use here; they require far more energy just to travel very short distances. The entire sector seems to have been locked inside a colossal cage!"
Liang Bing's lazy voice rang out, carrying a trace of understanding. "Tsk, just as I thought."
She tapped the air with her fingertip, bringing up a holographic display filled with complex energy-field models. "Those skeletons used these blackstone towers to construct an energy field